books galore.

i have these friends, and if you've read the blog at all and click on links, you've probably made their way to their blog at some point. they're pretty amazing. and my kids think their kids are awesome.


rebecca and i met shortly after she and her husband, josh, arrived in santiago. we worked together for one semester at the university. and now it's like, friends forever.

we like people who come to the island to do things. and who are invested in changing the face of the world. because, really, who doesn't love people like that? we and the rousculps have tons in common, josh and i love chocolate chip cookies and rebecca makes the best (even amalio who doesn't do cookies loves them... but pretend like i didn't tell you  that, because he denies eating them when they're in the house). i like to do crafty things and rebecca supports my addiction (and is the co-founder of poderosa mujer).

this summer, josh and rebecca (along with their offspring, max and zora) moved to san francisco de macoris. it was sad for us. but, santiago is inundated with human resources and... san francisco? not so much. now, after a few months of checking the place out, the rousculps are ready to launch a program that is near to my and amalio's hearts' as well.

in the dominican republic, libraries are basically non-existent. those that exist are geared toward college students, for research purposes. if you ask a child what is their favorite thing to read, they'll likely respond with some sort of school subject - history, civics - because they have been so infrequently exposed to books that they haven't discovered the joy of reading for fun. quality learning toys are scarce as well. education, in general, is dismal. the act of reading to enhance your life is unknown.

it's cultural. it's economic. it's social.
my home-city has been losing public libraries left and right. because somehow, even though there are resources and knowledge that books are important, some big important people have decided that books are no longer that important. and most people don't even care.

meanwhile. people are fighting for libraries. begging for libraries throughout the world.
and because books are really important. and reading can change lives. and those words printed on a page can open up a world that we never knew existed, the rousculps are opening a library. in a community that wouldn't otherwise be exposed to the joys of imagination.

check out their indiegogo campaign, follow them on facebook. the biblioteca comunitario doctor william house is going to do amazing things!

powerful women.

you've heard of this, right? PODEROSA MUJER is a project that has been in the works since last december. it couples a passion for the women of the community of cienfuegos, santiago and a need for education and empowerment programs.
the idea is to find un or underemployed moms and help them create beautiful things out of repurposed or recycled materials - sell those beautiful things - and then create programs that those very same women think are necessary.
why women? an african proverb tells us if you educate a man, you educate just one person, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation. i'm a pretty firm believer that when women are empowered, the world changes. when women are taught that they are valuable, precious and powerful, they then in turn raise up children who know that they are valuable, precious and powerful.

 

rolled beads before they've been painted

right now, PODEROSA MUJER is the "unofficial sponsor" of the pre-natal classes we offer at FUTURO LLENO DE ESPERANZA and we hope to support some literacy classes in the near future. we offer prenatal vitamins and lactation support to women in the community (whether they come to classes or not) and, of course, i will spoil your baby with hugs and kisses whenever you want.

 

it's difficult to sell our goods - which right now consists of rolled-paper-bead jewelry, and re-purposed glass pendants - because we're not in the states and what we sell here is minimal (different styles-sense, i guess).

 

so i'm appealing to you, blog readers, to help some sisters out. we've got a number of pieces available in the US right now that can be shipped out, and quite a number more waiting for a ride to philadelphia (the mail service here is a nightmare!) we accept paypal, personal checks and cash.

 

our jewels are also available in-country for mission teams who are looking for some unique souvenirs. 25% of the profit will go right back to your organization like a mini-fund raiser, and your visitors and short term missionaries will be able to support local ministries, local people AND get something way nicer than a coconut bra or a bottle opener with the DR flag.

please forgive the not-so-great quality of these pictures - they were taken with an android phone as the camera's battery is dead. all rolled  beads are coated with resin to make them a bit more water resistant - but they are paper, so we don't recommend bathing with the jewelry on!
 if you're interested in any of the pieces seen here, you can email us at melanie512@gmail.com with the number of the piece, and where to send it. paypal payments can be made through the button on the sidebar of this blog, checks and/or cash will be discussed through email.

 

 



beads made from green, cardboard
box, black accent beads. double
strand, clasp-style closing. #001: $10 USD

beads made from yellow, cardboard box, white accent
beads. double, elastic strand. #002: $9 USD

1 inch colorful cardboard bead earring. #003: $5USD

pink, paper-bead necklace with pink and black
accent beads. clasp-style closing. #004: $14USD

 



colorful, paper-bead necklace with clear colored accent beads. clasp-style closing. #005: $14USD

black, paper-bead Anglican Prayer-beads* with black, glass accent beads.
#006: $20USD 

1 inch, purple-toned beads rolled from cardboard. #007: $5USD

green toned, beads rolled from cardboard with wooden accent beads.
elastic style strand. #008: $8USD

long, green paper-rolled beads with black and white accent beads. triple strand,
clasp-style closing. #009: $12USD

purple beads rolled from cardboard and painted with a glittery paint,
white accent beads. triple strand, clasp-style closing. #010: $12USD

simple, purple colored beads rolled from cardboard with white accent
beads. elastic style strand. #011: $8 USD

1 inch, purple toned-bead earring. #012: $5USD

natural seed, chunky bracelet. (seeds found on La Entrada Beach, Nagua, Dominican Republic).
thick elastic strand. #013: $15USD

don't forget to like us on facebook!

*Anglican prayer beads, also known as the Anglican rosary or Christian prayer beads, are a loop of strung beads which Anglicans, as well as Christians of other denominations, use to order their prayer. This particular way of using prayer beads was developed in the mid-1980s by Episcopalians in the United States participating in a study group dealing with methods of prayer - learn more here

call u-haul

this summer we moved. it's the second large move i've had here in the dominican republic - and hopefully the last for a long time. when we moved into our first apartment, we relocated in a mini-pick-up - all we had was a bed, a couch, some plastic bookshelves and our clothes. while i cleaned the new place, amalio and his brother ran around town buying a dining room table (hideous - but we still have it), a stove (since replaced), a refrigerator (in need of replacement), a dominican style washer (sitting outside collecting dust) and an iron (since replaced at least 4 times). 

by the time we moved into our second place, we had two babies and three years of life under our belts and needed something bigger than a pickup to move. luckily amalio's students and some other strapping young men were willing to move us for the promise of lunch. it's not easy to move from one third floor to the next.

this move, however, was easier. we were moving from a third floor to a house. on ground level. and i had purged a ton of unnecessaries from our lives not too long before - so we had less boxes of junk (still, the boys will point out, the same number or more of heavy, heavy books).

luckily we were able to practice the patience needed for a move in this country when my dear friends rebecca and josh moved to san francisco de macoris just days before our big move. somehow, i avoided their packing chaos and made it just in time to witness the most incompetent truck packing i've ever experienced. 

You can read more about this moving hilarity here

see that big piece of furniture going on the roof of that truck? well, the basic consensus amongst the movers was that the big, bulky furniture needed to go in the truck last - despite the fact that it isn't a big space taker - tons of things could have been nested into its open spaces. alas, it took a 1.5 hour drive to san fran and didn't kill anyone.

once it got there however... it didn't fit up the stairs to the new place - so it was cut apart, carried up the stairs and then put back together.

since all of that moving nonsense wasn't enough for us we decided to move into our house without our water connected and without the permission of the owner. i know this sounds sneaky, but we had signed our contract one month prior and were still waiting for this fool to get his act together. ridiculously, he gave amalio the keys to let the alarm guy in one day - we took advantage and called the strapping young men and amalio's students to help us move in the next day. we would have moved in that very very day except i had just helped rebecca move out and was pretty tired. besides, our cistern was empty and i refused to move in to a house with no water at all.

i paid this kid 1,000 pesos (about 25 dollars) to fill up our 2500 gallon water tank so we could survive until the water company resolved their problem.

the following day we were ready. all the boxes were packed (mostly) and the boys were ready to carry heavy things. one of amalio's ex-students had access to a flatbed, and since that would be cheaper than hiring a truck, we loaded things up

of course, it made perfect sense to start loading from the back to the front, right? hence the logical packing in the back and haphazard packing in the little bit of space left to them near the front. it took two trips, and each time 10 boys rode around on the back like kings.

we've acquired furniture over the years - we have way more than a bed and some shelves nowadays. not too long ago we got this beautiful tv cabinet from a coworker for a really great price. it took a lot of work to get it into the apartment. i even promised the guys who carried it that i wouldn't move for a long time. alas, two months later, we were trying to get the thing out again!

we've been settled in for about two months now - the house still feels like a wreck and the backyard is finally starting to take shape. it's a beautiful place, and a complete blessing that just fell into our laps unexpectedly. i'll be taking some pictures soon of the yard and the house - but of course, friends are always welcome to come see it for themselves!

Anti-Bullying

i teach advanced english at the local, catholic university here in santiago. it's a nice gig - flexible hours, good pay, air conditioning in the summer.

most of the time i like my students. sometimes i don't.

last semester i had a really excellent group of students and i was surprised by their compassion and thoughtfulness. i never, however, really gave them the chance to go further with some of the themes we'd been talkign about.

so this semester, when i got another amazing group, i wanted them to really use their english in deeper ways. i wanted them to take what we had talked about in class and create something from it.

it's the best thing about being an ESL teacher at this level. i don't teach a "subject" class, but english is just as important in that we have the opportunity to present a new point of view, to deepen conversations in an academic setting that maybe they are having in social settings.

one of the "topics" for this particular level is bullying. honestly, i never really paid too much attention to it, and focused on other parts of the unit that i felt were "more important." and then, i saw bullying really affect the family of a close friend of mine and wanted to get these students into a more meaningful conversation on how to stop it.

we talked. watched videos. read articles. more discussion.

and then i sent them home to "do something with this". really. that's what i told them.

be creative. make something. take this class and use it to send a message.

i received posters and essays and even powerpoint presentations.

and this.

this amazing video from jonathan vila, jesenia moya and dalma nunez.

such talent and insight.

enjoy.

women helping women.

 santiago is a really small place  - it's not uncommon to get into a public-car and know at least one person you're riding with; or go to the supermarket and run into a handful of friends. it's even less surprising to meet someone new and find out you have six hundred mutual friends.

i met a woman seven years ago when i first moved to the country. we shared a mail service, and there it was. we never hung out or became friends, but life has brought us back together on a few occasions over the years. about three years ago, we spent a decent amount of time together, trying to figure out some alternative education for a group of students.

she probably doesn't even remember this, but with my elephant-like memory, i do - in a routine conversation, her work in the city of la vega came up, and very recently she had spilled her heart to the women she worked with about her desire to start a program for girls. it was just a seed in her heart three years ago - something she hadn't even wanted to share with the women she worked with for fear that it wouldn't come to fruition.

and then, just last may, the posts started on facebook about a new project. and then, a blog. and god put this thing in motion so fast that i couldn't believe it. i was skeptical. how in the world would they support this? was it really going to work?

on friday, i went with two new friends and joy to visit this amazing project - new hope girls academy - in la vega. and i knew they were doing something incredible before, but now, wow. i'm in awe of what god has done in this place in just one short year.

and while it's amazing and crazy what is happening for the girls, what is more incredible to me is the empowerment of women happening in the community. it's nice to expect americans to support these "poor kid" programs, but it's harder to sustain and doesn't necessarily help to break the poverty cycle. generational poverty causes a deep-rooted insecurity in those affected and takes much more than "an income" to fix. education is only part of the problem - there is so much more involved when there has never been a sense of financial security, a sense of self-value nor the education or skills necessary to support onseself.

new hope started an artisan program for local women! they've trained women to make these beautiful flipflops, paying them a fare-wage for their work - now, they are creating purses and bags on a donated sewing machine. 

 the "workshop" is just someone's house, and the tools might seem a little primitive - a candle to singe the edges of the fishing line used to sew the decorations on the strap.

it's pretty organized for the small space they work in, and the women seem to work harmoniously.

as the project grows, these women - and hopefully more - will learn how to think about the future, and not just worry where the next meal is coming from, they'll be able to educate their children and feed their families a more stable and healthy diet.

in conjunction with the school and safe-house for girls at risk (at risk for any number of things - incestuous abuse, prostitution, slave-labor), new hope girls academy has the potential to re-shape the future of women in their community. of course, they've encountered opposition from men... who wants to marry an educated woman, afterall? and who will take care of the men once these women are liberated? but. overall, it's a place that people are supporting.

you can check them out at: new hope girls academy, or on their facebook page (like them, do it!) and you can read my previous post about them (before i even saw the place in person).

hand up, not a hand out.

 we've been giving clothes to a young family since their son was born a little over a year ago. they've struggled to get by on a little over 200 us dollars a month. and the dad really does work hard for what he brings in. i've been on a soap box about this hand-out thing for awhile now but without really looking into our ways of giving. this same family has got me wondering how to do this better.

 i was peaved once when the mom asked if i could get her some formula - breastfeeding was just too time consuming for her. Whatever, i get it, not everyone has the patience to breastfeed, so i let it go. but i did explain to her women have milk to feed our children, and if you don't have money to buy milk in a can, then you do it naturally (i'm somewhat of a breastfeeding dictator when it comes to not wanting to do it as opposed to not being able to do it). and no, we can't help you buy milk, you have free milk. i don't know what she did - probably the same as a lot of other poor women who won't breastfeed -undernourish their babies with rice water or juice or tea. i was willing and able to help them, especially with clothes and whenever we'd go to the campo, food. (free root vegetables, fruit, veggies, yum!) i mean, what good is hoarding wealth? this family is struggling to feed themselves, and we (though we often complain about not having enough) are doing quite well.

just the other day they stopped by with baby. i looked at the mom and realized that she's pregnant again and has braces on her teeth. what?

i asked her about the braces - maybe she had a tooth condition i didn't ever notice before? maybe she had teeth pulled and was realigning? 

son de lujo. she says.

they're for show.

for show? braces cost more than your husband makes in five months, but you got luxury braces? no money for birth control or to buy milk for your child, but you get "braces de lujo"? you have got to be kidding me.

i've been struggling with this whole idea for awhile now. we're blessed. extremely and immensely blessed. we have good health and financially we're sound. that's not the case for so many people in the world. and living and working where we do, we know, and are reminded of how blessed we really are.

but where is the line between being a hand up and being an enabler? if we help too much, we create dependency, yet if we don't use our gifts and resources, we are part of the oppressive cycle that keeps people down.

my friend, rebecca, wrote about something similar to this on her blog and it helped me realize that it is a horrible cycle. when we give things away without holding people responsible to themselves it's like we're saying "you're not worth my time and effort. take this and go."

so, how can you give responsibly? how can we use the resources and gifts we've been given to lift up those living around us (not just in the dr, but anywhere we live) and to break cycles of poverty? what do i do about the family who has money for unnecessary orthodontia, but  not for milk for their children?

i'm stuck on this, so i'm looking for help. what do you do in these situations? how have you found ways to give and serve without creating that dependency?

a new hope.

one of my new goals with the "re-living" of this blog is to connect people to organizations that are doing amazing things in this country. i wrote about my visit to cabral and baez hospital with midwives for the dominican republic (a visit that has convicted me in ways i never imagined - more on that in future posts). and i've got a ton more people doing good in this country. 

a few years ago, i was tutoring out of my house. i'd get calls from people all of the time - i was full, blessed by enough work to pay the bills and some extra. i had tutored a few ex-pat kids and some dominicans. i was used to the work and i liked it. i never imagined changing jobs - it was so easy, work from home, be with my kids and make decent money. 

but, one day i got a call from a woman looking for a more permanent tutoring situation. i was interested - the ideas they had caught my attention. and i went through a process with a group of women, talking about education and what it means. in the end the job didn't pan out, but i learned so much about myself and about what my beliefs are through the process that i was just grateful to have been involved.

one of the women was joy. a missionary living with her family, and working in a school for impoverished children in la vega. she wanted more, though, and i could see it in her. she was convicted to serve the girls in her community - the ones who are battered, abused and left behind. to be honest, though, i didn't see it happening. too complicated, too much crazy.

see, there's a problem here. girls are a commodity to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. and it doesn't just happen in the most impoverished of neighborhoods. parents looking for a better life encourage their daughters to "marry" foreigners, to only be with the man with a good job or who has money. it doesn't matter about love or even like. 


we have a student/friend who's girlfriend wasn't allowed to see him anymore because "he doesn't have enough money" (the kid was 16 for crying out loud!) and the parents needed her to find someone more stable. it's sad, really. but the worst are when the girls do "marry" (marriage in the dominican republic is a funny thing, and the word spouse is thrown around freely - usually two children are considered "married" if they've have intimate relations), she is considered spoiled goods. they "marry" and when it doesn't work out (because what 13 year old girl can really be a wife?) the family doesn't want her back. so she has nowhere to go.

a coworker of mine, the woman who cleans our building, was "married" at 12 and had three children by 15. He "husband" left her when she was pregnant with the third claiming that she wasn't young enough anymore. she had to make it on her own - three kids and a 5th grade education. now, she's older and her 16 year old daughter has a baby. it's a vicious cycle. 


so back to joy. she recently started a school for girls. and god has been moving in that school and my original skepticism is gone. when i read their facebook page and their updates on their blog, i'm amazed at the power of prayer and the sacrifices people are making to support this organization. new hope is taking in these girls and giving them an education, food, hope. showing them god's love, and preparing them for the future.


so, what's prompted this post of mine?


i'm a big supporter of helping people up instead of giving out. empowering people with education, job opportunities and giving the opportunity for personal responsibility is so much better than handing people things. that forced dependence that so often happens just forces the cycle to continue, while creating independence helps to break it.

i checked out their blog the other day and saw their new project. empowering women by helping them learn a craft to sell in fair trade markets, locally and internationally. Their first project was to make sandals. "Each sandal is hand woven and sewn and takes about three hours to create.  Women are able to earn more than double the average wage in our barrio with all the proceeds supporting the work of New Hope Girls Inc.  We had our first public sale locally Saturday where we sold 25 pairs of sandals! The women were so excited and encouraged." (new hope girls blog). (you can buy them, i think for $25 off the blog or facebook)

i sincerely ask you to check New Hope Girls out, because they're doing amazing things. educating and training and preparing. helping girls learn their real value, not just as a piece of meat with a price-tag. giving women self-confidence and skills that will help them support their families. and doing it with a heart full of love and compassion. 

good things are happening in this country. check them out. 

re: the maternity ward.

i've been to the public hospital tons of times. visiting friends or dropping things off, i even run through the front door and out the back when i'm too lazy to walk around the block. i've been to a meeting or two and use the pharmacy because it's much cheaper than privately owned drugstores.

i don't visit people in the hospital. i feel like if you are sick, you need to rest, not entertain. and i'm not even big on visiting people after they give birth - unless they ask, or need help with lactation stuff. i like to wait until they're at home, comfortable and... more properly cleaned and presentable for visitors.

public health care here is kind of a joke. like many other public services, there are not enough funds, a little to no accountability to the people who manage what there is. doctors show up late, or not at all, spend little time with each patient and run on to their better paying job. nurses are paid minimum wage, and are not given the tools they need to perform their jobs.

even knowing all of this, even having experienced the public hospital, i was not prepared for the maternity ward. and on one hand i wish i had taken photos, and on the other i'm glad i didn't.

a friend of mine is a midwife working with midwives for the dominican republic and she brought onesies and sanitary pads for the new mamas in the hospital, so we headed over and talked our way in. normally, no one is allowed to accompany the women into the labor room, so it was a privilege to get in and see how it works.

picture taken from midwives for the dominican republic

we were thrown some disposable gowns and told we could walk around and talk to the women. good thing, because no one else seemed to be talking to them. the room was large, about 15 beds filled it up, each with a woman in some stage of labor - two beds were occupied by two women, since there was no space for them anywhere else. some of the beds had sheets, if the women brought them from home, most did not. a few of the women were naked from the waste down, with just a rolled up towel to give them privacy. there are no curtains to separate the beds. a doctor and his residents walked around, checking each woman. mostly, they didn't converse with the patient, and in one case the doctor did a tactile without even saying hello the mama-to-be.

one young girl cried and her belly contracted, with no one to hold her hand or give her words of encouragement. she had been admitted eventhough she was not really ready to be in the hospital. she might have lasted a day or two more without giving birth.

alone. in a hospital.

the babies are taken away after delivery and the women are shuttled to post-partum where they wait for... whatever one waits for in the post-partum room. again, these women are alone - not even with their babies for company.

no sheets, no hospital gown. no husband or mom to hold a hand.

the regular rooms were not much better, but here, company is allowed. four beds and a private bath in each room. babies and moms are reunited, but there are no cribs or incubator boxes for the newborns. they share the twin bed with mom and whoever else is with them - there are only seats if you bring them with you.

there are no free diapers, no blanket to wrap the baby in. no sheets on mama's bed or a pillow to use. no chairs for visitors. no sanitary pads or protection for the bed. no pain medication. for the haitian women, there is not even a nurse or doctor who speaks their language.

i spent an hour. it felt like a lifetime. i am thankful for this experience. for the opportunity to remember that not everyone lives like me, and that most are denied what should be basic rights of human beings.